The above paragraphs, from a European Commission Recommendation of 19 December , in essence, exhorted five eurozone members to change their national designs.

Finland and Belgium did so in and respectively while Austria, Germany [20] and Greece have not announced any design changes as of February However, the regulation only stipulates 20 June as a deadline for revising designs.

As of [update] , Belgium, Monaco, the Netherlands, Spain and the Vatican have all experienced a change in head of state and have revised their designs to reflect this and the new regulation where applicable.

Euro coins have high-security machine-readable features. Euro coins were designed in cooperation with organisations representing blind persons, and as a result they incorporate many features allowing them to be distinguished by touch alone.

In addition, their visual appearance is designed to make them easy to tell apart for persons who cannot read the inscriptions on the coins.

The coins increase in size and weight with value. Of the eight denominations of euro coins, the three lowest denominations are small, resemble copper in colour and are quite thin and light.

The next three denominations resemble gold in colour and are thicker as well as heavier. The highest two denominations are bimetallic, being generally larger and thicker than the lower denominations.

In general, the greater the value, the heavier and larger the coin. Copper colour identifies low value; gold colour identifies medium value; two different metals identify high value.

There are also differences within each group. The 2 cent coin has a grooved edge to distinguish it from the 1 and 5 cent coins and also from the US penny , which has the same colour and diameter.

Similarly, the 20 cent coin is smooth with seven indents to distinguish it from the 10 and 50 cent coins. Although there have been other currencies predating the euro that were specifically designed in similar ways different sizes, colours, and ridges to aid the visually impaired, the introduction of the euro constitutes the first time that authorities have consulted associations representing the blind and visually impaired before the release of a currency.

Each state allowed to issue coins may also mint two commemorative coins each year from June From to May , countries were only allowed to mint one coin per year.

The coin must show the normal design criteria, such as the twelve stars , the year and the issuing country. Greece was the first country to issue a commemorative coin, and was followed by all but Cyprus and Ireland.

However, in every eurozone state participated in the Treaty of Rome programme, where all member states issued a coin of similar design to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the only difference being the name of the issuing country and the language of the text.

This was repeated in in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Economic and Monetary Union. The design was selected by electronic voting by EU citizens.

The first coin was released in and the last coin was minted in A legacy of old national practice is the minting of silver and gold commemorative coins.

Unlike normal issues, these coins are not legal tender throughout the eurozone , but only in the country where they are issued e. However, these gold coins are intended for collectors as their bullion value vastly exceeds their face value.

These coins, however, generally do not circulate but are kept by collectors. It is uncertain whether the Council of Ministers will grant them legal tender status elsewhere outside national boundaries, as San Marino , Monaco , and the Vatican City also issue this kind of coins.

This plan was blocked by France , however after , of the coins had already been minted, they had to be discarded. Minting in the 2.

The European Central Bank closely monitors the circulation and stock of the euro coins and banknotes. It is a task of the Eurosystem to ensure an efficient and smooth supply of euro coins and to maintain their integrity throughout the eurozone.

As of Sep , there are approximately billion coins in circulation around the eurozone. In contrast the USA has minted over billion pennies since when the current copper-plated zinc metallic composition began.

Using a population of million for the EU that is roughly coins of denomination 1c or 2c per capita, and other coins per capita. Approximately , counterfeit euro coins are taken from circulation annually, and roughly the same number are seized before they can be released.

Given a total circulation of 56 billion coins, counterfeit coins are relatively rare. About half the counterfeits feature the German national design , but counterfeits have been detected for every issuing country.

The European Technical and Scientific Centre estimates that up to 2 million counterfeit coins were put into circulation in Recent investigations by the European Commission have shown that counterfeit sophistication is increasing, making prompt detection more difficult.

Due to the expense of producing such low value coinage, the Commission and some member states have proposed that costs could be cut by having a common design on both sides of these coins, rather than minting numerous different designs.

The 1c and 2c coins were initially introduced to ensure that the introduction of the euro was not used as an excuse by retailers to heavily round up prices.

However, due to the cost of maintaining a circulation of low value coins, by business and the mints, Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands round prices to the nearest five cents Swedish rounding if paying with cash, while producing only a handful of those coins for collectors, rather than general circulation.

The Swedish rounding law in Finland was issued in January just shortly after the coins were put into circulation. The Netherlands followed suit in September , with Belgium making moves to follow in , but no mandatory rounding has been applied.

After a successful experiment in the town of Woerden in May , retailers in the whole of the Netherlands have been permitted to round cash transactions to the nearest five-cent since September This is in part due to factors such as rising metal prices: The Belgians were most supportive of their removal.

The Commission in released its guidelines on daily life euro cash questions, to give citizens guidelines on such issues with direct implications on their daily lives.

These guidelines are based on ten guiding principles. Two of these guiding principles were and still are that "No surcharges should be imposed on payments in cash" and "Member States should not adopt new rounding rules to the nearest five cent".

In spring controversy arose in the Netherlands after an episode of the television program Keuringsdienst van Waarde showed that euro coins from the Netherlands and other countries are produced by the South Korean company Poongsan.

This company is also a known producer of cluster munitions. The CCM prohibits the use, production, stockpiling or transfer of cluster munitions as well as assistance with these acts.

However, the Commission claimed responsibility on this issue lies with the member states of the Union. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The common sides of all 8 euro coins There are eight euro coin denominations, ranging from one cent to two euros [1] the euro is divided into a hundred cents.

History of the euro. Identifying marks on euro coins. Euro gold and silver commemorative coins. Archived from the original on May 10, Retrieved 13 February Archived from the original on Retrieved 2 July Stiks, Igor 1 July Retrieved 28 June Map of euro area ".

There are, however, some restrictions on the design: New issues must also include the name of the issuing country or an abbreviation of it. It may not repeat the denomination of the coin or the word euro unless it is in a different alphabet such as on Greek coins.

There are at present no plans to abolish the national designs in favour of a common European one. However, the Commission has proposed that the 1c, 2c and 5c coins have a common design to keep costs down.

Though they are not members of the EU, Andorra , Monaco , San Marino , and the Vatican City also have euro coins featuring a national side, but a considerable number of these coins are not put into general circulation by the authorities who instead sell them to collectors for prices higher than their face value.

No territories associated with Eurozone countries are issuing their own euro coins. France and Netherlands have areas which have their own currencies.

Denmark and the United Kingdom have areas which use the currencies of their home countries but issue their own versions of banknotes. These two countries are part of the EU but not the eurozone, and it is uncertain what would happen if any of them adopted the euro.

From there are 23 countries issuing coins with their own national sides, making it different euro coins, not counting annual differences or commemorative coins.

The national side should not repeat any indication on the denomination, or any parts thereof, of the coin neither should it repeat the name of the single currency or of its subdivision, unless such indication stems from the use of a different alphabet.

This Recommendation should apply to national sides and edge letterings of both normal and commemorative euro circulation coins.

It should not apply to the national sides and edge letterings of both normal and commemorative euro circulation coins which have been first issued prior to the adoption of this Recommendation.

The above paragraphs, from a European Commission Recommendation of 19 December , in essence, exhorted five eurozone members to change their national designs.

Finland and Belgium did so in and respectively while Austria, Germany [20] and Greece have not announced any design changes as of February However, the regulation only stipulates 20 June as a deadline for revising designs.

As of [update] , Belgium, Monaco, the Netherlands, Spain and the Vatican have all experienced a change in head of state and have revised their designs to reflect this and the new regulation where applicable.

Euro coins have high-security machine-readable features. Euro coins were designed in cooperation with organisations representing blind persons, and as a result they incorporate many features allowing them to be distinguished by touch alone.

In addition, their visual appearance is designed to make them easy to tell apart for persons who cannot read the inscriptions on the coins.

The coins increase in size and weight with value. Of the eight denominations of euro coins, the three lowest denominations are small, resemble copper in colour and are quite thin and light.

The next three denominations resemble gold in colour and are thicker as well as heavier. The highest two denominations are bimetallic, being generally larger and thicker than the lower denominations.

In general, the greater the value, the heavier and larger the coin. Copper colour identifies low value; gold colour identifies medium value; two different metals identify high value.

There are also differences within each group. The 2 cent coin has a grooved edge to distinguish it from the 1 and 5 cent coins and also from the US penny , which has the same colour and diameter.

Similarly, the 20 cent coin is smooth with seven indents to distinguish it from the 10 and 50 cent coins. Although there have been other currencies predating the euro that were specifically designed in similar ways different sizes, colours, and ridges to aid the visually impaired, the introduction of the euro constitutes the first time that authorities have consulted associations representing the blind and visually impaired before the release of a currency.

Each state allowed to issue coins may also mint two commemorative coins each year from June From to May , countries were only allowed to mint one coin per year.

The coin must show the normal design criteria, such as the twelve stars , the year and the issuing country. Greece was the first country to issue a commemorative coin, and was followed by all but Cyprus and Ireland.

However, in every eurozone state participated in the Treaty of Rome programme, where all member states issued a coin of similar design to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the only difference being the name of the issuing country and the language of the text.

This was repeated in in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Economic and Monetary Union. The design was selected by electronic voting by EU citizens.

The first coin was released in and the last coin was minted in A legacy of old national practice is the minting of silver and gold commemorative coins.

Unlike normal issues, these coins are not legal tender throughout the eurozone , but only in the country where they are issued e.

However, these gold coins are intended for collectors as their bullion value vastly exceeds their face value.

These coins, however, generally do not circulate but are kept by collectors. It is uncertain whether the Council of Ministers will grant them legal tender status elsewhere outside national boundaries, as San Marino , Monaco , and the Vatican City also issue this kind of coins.

This plan was blocked by France , however after , of the coins had already been minted, they had to be discarded.

Minting in the 2. The European Central Bank closely monitors the circulation and stock of the euro coins and banknotes.

It is a task of the Eurosystem to ensure an efficient and smooth supply of euro coins and to maintain their integrity throughout the eurozone.

As of Sep , there are approximately billion coins in circulation around the eurozone. In contrast the USA has minted over billion pennies since when the current copper-plated zinc metallic composition began.

Using a population of million for the EU that is roughly coins of denomination 1c or 2c per capita, and other coins per capita. Approximately , counterfeit euro coins are taken from circulation annually, and roughly the same number are seized before they can be released.

Given a total circulation of 56 billion coins, counterfeit coins are relatively rare. About half the counterfeits feature the German national design , but counterfeits have been detected for every issuing country.

The European Technical and Scientific Centre estimates that up to 2 million counterfeit coins were put into circulation in Recent investigations by the European Commission have shown that counterfeit sophistication is increasing, making prompt detection more difficult.

Due to the expense of producing such low value coinage, the Commission and some member states have proposed that costs could be cut by having a common design on both sides of these coins, rather than minting numerous different designs.

The 1c and 2c coins were initially introduced to ensure that the introduction of the euro was not used as an excuse by retailers to heavily round up prices.

However, due to the cost of maintaining a circulation of low value coins, by business and the mints, Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands round prices to the nearest five cents Swedish rounding if paying with cash, while producing only a handful of those coins for collectors, rather than general circulation.

The Swedish rounding law in Finland was issued in January just shortly after the coins were put into circulation. The Netherlands followed suit in September , with Belgium making moves to follow in , but no mandatory rounding has been applied.

After a successful experiment in the town of Woerden in May , retailers in the whole of the Netherlands have been permitted to round cash transactions to the nearest five-cent since September This is in part due to factors such as rising metal prices: The Belgians were most supportive of their removal.

The Commission in released its guidelines on daily life euro cash questions, to give citizens guidelines on such issues with direct implications on their daily lives.

These guidelines are based on ten guiding principles. Two of these guiding principles were and still are that "No surcharges should be imposed on payments in cash" and "Member States should not adopt new rounding rules to the nearest five cent".

In spring controversy arose in the Netherlands after an episode of the television program Keuringsdienst van Waarde showed that euro coins from the Netherlands and other countries are produced by the South Korean company Poongsan.

This company is also a known producer of cluster munitions. This is mainly done as a legacy of old national practice of minting gold and silver coins.

These coins are not intended to be used as means of payment, so they do not circulate. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.